Artificial Dreams: The Quest for Non-Biological Intelligence

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Cambridge University Press, Apr 21, 2008 - Psychology
This book is a critique of Artificial Intelligence (AI) from the perspective of cognitive science – it seeks to examine what we have learned about human cognition from AI successes and failures. The book's goal is to separate those 'AI dreams' that either have been or could be realized from those that are constructed through discourse and are unrealizable. AI research has advanced many areas that are intellectually compelling and holds great promise for advances in science, engineering, and practical systems. After the 1980s, however, the field has often struggled to deliver widely on these promises. This book breaks new ground by analyzing how some of the driving dreams of people practicing AI research become valued contributions, while others devolve into unrealized and unrealizable projects.

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About the author (2008)

H.R. Ekbia is associate professor of information science and cognitive science at Indiana University, where he is also affiliated with the School of Informatics. Initially trained as an engineer, Ekbia switched his focus to study cognitive science in order to pursue a lifelong interest in the workings of the human mind. To get a deeper understanding of the questions that AI research and writing posed but hastily tackled, Ekbia in turn began to focus on the philosophy of science and science studies, through which he discovered novel ways of thinking about science, technology, and the human mind. This broad intellectual background is well reflected in Ekbia's writings, which range over a diverse set of topics on the human mind, machines, and the mediated interactions between the two. Ekbia has taught extensively in the areas of computer science, information science, and cognitive science. He currently teaches human-computer interaction and social informatics at the School of Library and Information Science at Indiana University.

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